Duke Splits Doubleheader at Baylor

Sunday, February 27

Waco, Texas

12:00 P.M.

Duke University

Baylor

Duke Splits Doubleheader at Baylor

2/27/2022 8:31:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 BOX SCORE (GAME 1)BOX SCORE (GAME 2)SEASON STATS PHOTO GALLERY

WACO, Texas – Duke split games with Baylor in the doubleheader to conclude the series on Sunday at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas.

The Blue Devils dropped the first game of the day, 12-3, but regrouped and battled back to take the final game in the series, 4-2.

Duke (4-3, 0-0 ACC) was led offensively by senior Damon Lux throughout the doubleheader as he went 4-for-8 with a double and two RBIs on the day.

Game One: Baylor 12, Duke 3
Sophomore southpaw Luke Fox started on the hill for the Blue Devils in game one. He allowed four runs on three hits and five walks in 5.1 innings of work. Fox fanned three in the contest but dropped to 1-1 on the season. Jake Jackson started on the mound for the Bears and earned the win, surrendering just one run, unearned, on four hits and three walks in seven innings pitched.

Baylor opened the scoring of game one with one run in the bottom of the third and fourth innings for a 2-0 lead. Duke battled back in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit in half. Junior Graham Pauley singled up the middle to score graduate student Wil Hoyle from second for the run.

The Bears pulled away in the bottom of the sixth and added to their lead in the seventh to make it 12-1. Baylor scored 10 runs on five hits, nine walks and an error across the two frames. Duke pulled two back in the eighth, scoring a pair of runs on a RBI fielder's choice by Lux and an error.

Rookie left-handed pitcher Oren Abbott made his first appearance on the hill as a Blue Devil in the eight inning. Abbott pitched a clean inning, allowing just one hit while striking out two.

Game Two: Duke 4, Baylor 2
Junior Billy Seidl made his first start on the mound this season for the Blue Devils. Seidl threw 3.2 hitless innings with four strikeouts but gave up two runs on five walks.

Duke got on the board in the top of the first inning to take an early lead. Hoyle doubled to get on the base path before Lux singled to score him. Baylor responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning, tying the game at 1-1.

Baylor took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, but Duke countered as sophomore Luke Storm singled to lead off the inning. He was brought home by an RBI groundout from freshman Alex Mooney.

Pauley recaptured the lead for the Blue Devils with a leadoff home run to right center in the top of the eighth inning. Hits from Lux and junior Chad Knight and walks drawn by graduate student Trevor Johnson and senior Jake Topolski continued the inning for the Blue Devils.

Senior Jimmy Loper earned the win in relief, entering the game in the seventh inning and closing. He allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out five in three innings of work.

Senior Aaron Beasley and sophomore Josh Allen also gave Duke valuable innings in relief. Beasley allowed just one hit and fanned one in 1.1 innings of work while Allen struck out two in a scoreless inning pitched.

Duke returns home for a matchup with East Carolina at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The game, broadcast on ACC Network Extra (stream) and the Varsity App (radio), will kick off a 15-game homestand for the Blue Devils.

NOTES:

Duke scored first against Baylor in the second game on Sunday. It was the first time Duke got on the board first in a contest this season.
Duke improves to 1-5 all-time against the Bears.
The series was Duke's first series against a Big 12 opponent since the 2018 Super Regionals at Texas Tech.

#GoDuke